As is usual, here comes a lengthy post full of info on Lancôme cosmetics and skincare ....

While doing my Christmas shopping, one of the things I bought was the foundation that MiniCyn wears, and in addition to that, I purchased their Beauty Box. It's $59.50 with *any* regular Lancôme purchase and TOTALLY worth the money.

Instead of having a bunch of stuff in extremely small amounts like most cosmetic lines do for their Christmas/Holiday Beauty Box sets, Lancôme instead opted to have not quite as many items, but the items in it are all full (regular) size (with the exception of the Génifique, which is a .25 oz maxi-sample - the normal size for a bottle of it is one ounce, which costs $70.00, so there was unfortunately no way they could include it in the BB without dramatically increasing the price.

I did the math for all of the products in the BB (minus the Génifique sample), and if purchased individually, the total for all of the products it contains would be a whopping $274.00 (excluding sales tax), so $59.50 isn't just a pretty damned good deal, it's a fcuking AWESOME deal steal, so to speak .

I anyone is interested in this, here's the link: Lancôme's Beauty Box. The department stores are pretty much sold out of their stock of Beauty Boxes (they're usually gone less than a week after they're available in the stores), so the only way to get one is to purchase it online.

Here's what it contains:

- One bottle of Bi-Facil (their make-up remover - the best product of it's kind on the planet)
- One Definicils mascara in Black
- One .25 oz. maxi-sample of Génifique
- One All-Over Shadow Brush (Lancôme's #22 brush)
- One Synthetic Liner Brush (the white brush end of Lancôme's #18 shadow brush, which is normally dual-ended with a natural bristle brush on the other end)
- Two Color Design lipsticks
- Two Juicy Tubes (lip glosses)
- Three Color Design eye shadows
- One Le Crayon Khôl EyeLiner

Again, all of these products (except for the maxi-sample of Génifique) are the regular, full-sized ones you would normally buy individually at full price.

Plus, it's all packaged in what they describe as a "beautifully feminine train case." The case is black, and I have to admit that it's pretty darned cool looking.

The Bi-Facil, mascara, brushes, and Génifique are identical in both Beauty Boxes. The rest of the items (the lipsticks, juicy tubes, shadows, and eye pencils) are available in two color palates.

The color palate with "warm" shades is called "Sparkling Champagne," and are neutral shades (a little too neutral IMO) and are primarily light shades of earth tones - the eye shadow colors are cream, brown, and one other that I cannot remember at the moment. The eye pencil is brown, and the lipsticks are earth-toned, as are the Juicy Tubes (again, I don't know the names of the colors for any of them ).

The color palate with "cool" shades is called "Smokey Plum," and the colors in it have a bit more "pop" to them. Even though I'm an "Autumn" and generally stick to warmer tones, I can easily use the shades in the Smokey Plum color palate, and I would recommend it over the Sparkling Champagne to most everyone (though I know that there are definite exceptions to that suggestion).

Although I don't know the names of the colors for the Sparkling Champagne products, I do know the colors for the Smokey Plum . They are:

- 2 10ml (.33 oz. each) of one of Lancôme's new anti-aging product, Rénergie Éclat Multi-Lift. In addition to the anti-aging property, it comes in several different tints, so it can be used in place of foundation if used with powder. I haven't tried this yet, but once I do, I will report on how well it works and if it's worth getting.

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What kinds of good/great/awesome deals has everyone been finding this Holiday Season? Please, please share -- seeing as how we're all a bunch of cosmetic junkies , we want to know, no, make that, we NEED to know about as many as possible .

I loved They're Real at first, but fell out of love very quickly. My friend looooves it, though-- anything Benefit, and she's hooked. I'd love to use the brush with other mascaras I use, though. I'd love to mix and match various mascaras & brushes I have at the moment.

Help. I know this has been discussed in an earlier thread, but I can't find it.
What's the best under $20 USD foundation for older skin? Something with light to moderate coverage that you can control is ideal for me. Nothing that settles into the fine lines. Anyone remember?

Help. I know this has been discussed in an earlier thread, but I can't find it.
What's the best under $20 USD foundation for older skin? Something with light to moderate coverage that you can control is ideal for me. Nothing that settles into the fine lines. Anyone remember?

Click to expand...

I'm not older, so I can't speak about the lines issue, but I'm a big fan of L'Oreal's TrueMatch foundation. It's light enough with lots of colors. Mixes super well.

Help. I know this has been discussed in an earlier thread, but I can't find it.
What's the best under $20 USD foundation for older skin? Something with light to moderate coverage that you can control is ideal for me. Nothing that settles into the fine lines. Anyone remember?

Click to expand...

I would try Sephora brand. But what is your skin type? Also, cream foundations are really the "best" option for aging skin.

You may have to spend some extra money for a good foundation. You have to remember too, with some luxury/high end brands the pigmentation of product can be very very good that you use less product than you would for a drugstore brand.

I would recommend trying the brands Bobbi Brown, Chanel or Estee Lauder. You can look at Laura Mercier too. I would recommend trying a line smoothing primer and then try a regular drug store cream foundation. That may help you.

Help. I know this has been discussed in an earlier thread, but I can't find it.
What's the best under $20 USD foundation for older skin? Something with light to moderate coverage that you can control is ideal for me. Nothing that settles into the fine lines. Anyone remember?

Click to expand...

I have four. Two are under or around $20.

The best cheap foundation I've found, and I wear it frequently, is L'Oreal Visible Lift. It has retinoids in it, it brightens, there are a lot of shades so it's easy to match your skin. (Note, I have combination skin, not sure how this would work for really dry or really oily.) It really really does not settle into fine lines.

For a long time I've used Clinique Perfectly Real. It is low-coverage but extremely natural-looking, it's my "jeans and a t-shirt" foundation that I also use in the summer because it's lightweight and doesn't cake.

The Oxygen from Benefit, as above, is incredibly good and maybe $30. Problem is, as topaz noted, it comes in only about 8 or 9 shades. If you're lucky enough to match it it is fabulous for older skin. I'm wearing it right now, my day started at 6 AM in New York, I got home an hour ago and I am one tired and somewhat stressed lady. But my skin still looks good!

And finally, for nights out or really long days when I need more coverage that lasts, Clinique Repairware laser focus. Created for older skin, a little bit thicker than I like but it sure does cover. It's also great for the days when the dark circles or whatnot are really visible. Also not that expensive, maybe $36? Clinique is a department store line that is reasonably priced relative to Lancome, Shiseido, Chanel and the like....

So that's my stash. Start with the Visible Lift because it's about a $12 investment, see how you like it and go from there.

I got a package of 5 full size Lorac lipglosses for $25 at ULTA. I love them....they range in shade from pale pink to red and are in excellent scents/flavours such as creme brulee, candy apple, cotton candy, etc.

Also, I have been trying a sample of the Arbonne skincare products. My friend's cousin sells the line. I love the cleanser, like the serum and moisturizer, and hate the toner (drying) and eye cream (stings).

Not sure if I will purchase the cleanser and moisturizer or not. We'll see.

Either we Canadians didn't get Sephora coupons wuzrobbed or I've finally ceased spending enough to be a VIB. The latter is kind of tragic, even if I've done my best to avoid mecca-- sorry, Sephora since my wedding.

Either we Canadians didn't get Sephora coupons wuzrobbed or I've finally ceased spending enough to be a VIB. The latter is kind of tragic, even if I've done my best to avoid mecca-- sorry, Sephora since my wedding.